Game addiction is a form of psychological addiction related to a compulsive use of computer and video games, most notably MMORPGs - open ended, online video games known for their d...
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Suggest a Treatment, all help needed.
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Watch this |
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Okay here we go, this is my suggest a treatment thread and what amounts to a final call for help.
I’ll try and summarize myself so you know who your working with in your suggestions. I am 28 and having been playing video games since I was 12. I spend all day on them and absolutely nothing else, I have no job and few friends. I am an escapist by nature and in very brief spells away from games I love to read, write and play music, often ending up roleplaying via my computer. All other activities I try, eventually are shoved aside to play a new game or get a new fix. Computers have been my life for all those years and through the pleasure I get playing them, have been the single source of all my memories and enjoyment for 16 years. That sounds extreme but is almost entirely true, everything else pales. I guess I have that type of brain, very imaginative and addictive which draws this addiction on and on. The cost to me has been jobs, friends, relationships, successful businesses (x2), university courses (x3) and mounting debt. I have tried getting rid of all my computers, games and consoles seven times before but one day I’ll be sitting there in the void that is my life without computers and I just can’t talk or reason myself out of buying what I need for my fix, when I get that fix I can't stop playing. So please post how you’d treat a severe gaming addicts addiction and don’t hold back, no matter how extreme, because I am an extreme case. I really am at the end of my wits here, I need a lasting and permanent change. Posted on 10/02/08, 04:10 pm |
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To add of things I cannot do:
Its fairly obvious but going to friends to chat isn't an option, as I only have 2 that I see maybe twice a week, great blokes but they would not understand this addiction. The third lives a distance away and spends all his free time on the computer, so he's as bad as me but at least keeps a girlfriend and a steady job. My family would simply think I was nuts or looking for an excuse, other reasons I don't want to go into. So talking to family or friends is out. I need some kind of massive change, more moving than simply selling my computer, console and games, as that is not extreme enough. 
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MJ191, if you really believe that you need something more extreme, there are some specialized clinics that deal with gaming addiction. Also, more and more professionals are starting to not only finally acknowledge the problem, but are also developing ways to help treat it. You can get a fairly good list of such professionals (as well as some of these addiction clinics) at http://www.olganon.org/?q=professi... .
On various gaming addiction websites like this one and, especially, the OLGA one mentioned above, I have read about some very addicted people who have nonetheless made positive progress through various avenues. For example, there are 12-step programs (e.g., OLGA supports that) that many different addiction groups (e.g., AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), NA (Narcotics Anonymous), etc.) provide support for and that many thousands, possibly millions now, of addicts have benefited from. I, myself, only followed those steps informally but I still found that they benefited me. However, note that I was not as addicted as some other people since I only played about 4 hours per day on average (but, along with other procrastination techniques, it still had a lot of negative effects on me) and just regular video games (mostly 3-D Pinball and Minesweeper). I am sorry to see that you have not got any responses for almost 3 weeks now. You may wish to consider checking into other VGA (Video Game Addiction) support groups that are also available. Although some of the following cater more to the gaming widows and widowers, in addition to this one and OLGA's, here are some other ones: WoW Detox at http://www.wowdetox.com/ , WoW Widow at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/grou... , EverQuest Widows at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/gro... and GamerWidow at http://www.gamerwidow.com/ . Good luck and please do not give up hope of getting help since, as the old saying goes, "where there is a will, there is a way".
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